On my map, it looked like a quaint little road, meandering for a while alongside a rambling brook. What it actually turned out to be was a four lane super highway of death and destruction. Seemingly, it was the only way out of Niigata where I had just taken a ferry to from Hokkaido 20 hours earlier.
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As she bikes over the vast Green Mountains of Vermont, Emily Colin, co-founder of PEDAL (People for Environment, Diversity, Action and Learning), tries to imagine what it will be like doing the same climb, except 10,000 feet higher in the South American Andes. In a little over four months, Emily, along with her partner Rayna Weiss and a few other friends will embark on a 6 month tour of South America by bicycle. Out of breathe and slightly dizzy, Emily had a moment to sit with us and talk about this exciting new project that hopes to create a bridge between those who are working and living in sustainable and holistic ways with the land to the youth and students in the United States.
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The breeze gently sways the long fronds of banana trees while the early morning wake up hoots and hollers of monkeys fill the wet humid air. It’s another day in Costa Rica, and as usually the sun will be shining with a likely chance of afternoon showers. The flora and fauna of Costa Rica are varied, colorful, and easily scared when a crew of mountain bikers come tearing through a grove, leaving a few feathers in their wake. We had a chance to talk to one of these rain forest Rambos, Fabian Duran, who started Pericos MTB in Costa Rica about his organization and biking in Costa Rica.
Riding a bicycle is one of the best pleasures life has to offer. Riding a bicycle that was built by the hands of a master craftsman is even more of a treasure. A resident of Montana, Chris talks to Fietspad Magazine about his craft; Boedie Cycles.
It’s 8:00 AM and 27 degrees in my poorly insulated garage which doubles as the production center for Boedie Cycles. I only have an hour and a half before I head to my paying job.
As the ferry pulled into port at Tomakomai in Hokkaido 19 hours after leaving Tokyo, my first thought was that I was woefully unprepared for touring in Japan for the next two months. I had arrived in Japan deciding to tour by bicycle about a week beforehand. At that time I was traveling to Northern Ireland to tour Giant’s Causeway that I decided that I would tour Japan. Having just come off a stint as a Peace Corps volunteer, I didn’t really have much gear to meet those ends. But I assumed that I would be able to pick up the essentials (a bike) all in Tokyo and figure it out from there.
The Annapolis Bicycle Racing Team (ABRT) is one of the top-ranked amateur cycling teams in the United States. USA Cycling, the governing body of bicycle racing in this country, selected ABRT as their “Club of the Year” in 1996, 1997, 1998 and 2003. ABRT has also won the Mid-Atlantic Bicycle Racing Association Best All Around Team 11 years in a row, 12 years total. Our team has over 100 regular members ranging in age from 14 to 62 years old with abilities ranging from novice to elite level. ABRT is much more than an elite cycling team though…
Back from a rousing three-year stint as a travel consultant in Japan, the Disappointed Cyclist now writes copy, and works as a messenger in the Mormon empire of Salt Lake City, Utah.
Crack a Window
The bicycling community is one full of poor role models. Sure, there’s always Merckx and Armstrong, but it’s since been discovered that admiring the exploits of an untouchable hero, and duplicating the exploits of that hero, are two very different sides of the same coin. It’s the community’s newest hero, one known not for what he’s done, but what he’s said, which is far more appealing to the everyman-cyclist than the aforementioned untouchables–done with a style and swagger significantly easier imitated than Eddie or Lance. Bike Snob NYC–the informally elected sarcastic and abusive father figure of bicycling as it now stands. He’s like a schizophrenic parent–abusive and demeaning. The scene, playing the abused child, timid, cowering, and never good enough.
Everyday people come to me seeking guidance for their bicycle woes. Sometimes it’s a simple matter of adjusting brakes or tightening a bolt, but sometimes it’s beyond my capabilities. Luckily there are places you can go for solutions to even the most fickle bicycle problem, your local Bike Shop.
As the lights dim and the film starts rolling, you immediately know that this film won’t be like any others you have seen. For starters, it was probably made by the person sitting next to you, and probably using a video camera they borrowed from a friend. Finally, to drive the point home, the biggest star of the film isn’t a person, but a bicycle.
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Hello and Welcome to the Fietspad!
We are a magazine that focuses on cycling in the global community. Fietspad is a home to bicycle discussions; cycling, and the world that surrounds it.
FIETSPAD MAGAZINE is a Sonadei, LLC publication.
